Perennial Onions

Incredible Perennial Onions

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Though many people know that allium family is quite large and diverse perennial onions are still frequently overlooked. Today’s gardeners plant a diverse array of ornamental allium flowers, chives, garlic, and onion varieties but the perennial onion is largely neglected and underrated. These amazing crops have a lot of benefits and deserve a spot in your garden.

History

Egyptian Walking Onions (Tree Onions)

Little is known about the history of walking onions up until 1790 when they began appearing in records about English and American gardens. Where they originated from is still somewhat a mystery. While some varieties are often referred to as Egyptian onions or Egyptian walking onions they aren’t actually from Egypt. Some believe that this name originated in England as a marketing gimmick.

Though no recorded evidence has been found some wild onions that are similar to the walking onion have been found in Asia. Our modern Egyptian walking onion varieties could have been crossed from one of these.

Potato & Multiplier Onions 

The potato onion is closely related to the shallot. Like the walking onion they aren’t largely referenced until the 1790s when they gain popularity in English and American gardens. Shallots on the other hand, have been recorded in use for centuries and date back to Roman times.

Southern Exposure’s yellow potato onion variety is an heirloom that dates back to prior to 1790.

Both the potato and walking onions saw widespread use in colonial America. They were often easy to grow in conditions that were less than ideal and easy to keep year after year. Sadly these perennial onions fell out of favor during the 20th century. People chose to grow more seed onions as onion seeds and sets became more widely available.

Benefits

  • They are not as readily bothered by the onion fly as are seed onions.
  • Once you have enough potato onions or shallots you need not buy seeds or sets again.
  • Some types of multiplier onions are in demand as gourmet items in restaurants.
  • Potato onions and many shallots store well, and can withstand subfreezing temperatures in every area of the continental U.S. when properly planted.
  • Perennial onions may be easier for you to grow. While some gardeners find seed onions to be an easy, productive crop others struggle with them. If you’re having a hard time with seed onions perennial onions are worth a shot.

Learn More

If you’d like to learn more about perennial onions and heirloom garlic a good place to start is the workshop being held at Forest Green Farm in Louisa, VA on September 20th.

Central Virginia Master Gardener and owner/worker of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Ira Wallace joins forces with Forrest Green Farm owner Krista Rahm for a hands-on event dedicated to learning everything you’ll need to know about adding heirloom garlic and perennial onion varieties to your garden. Participants take home samples and must-try recipes!

You can learn more about this event and purchase tickets here: http://www.heritageharvestfestival.com/events/garden-garlic-at-forrest-green-farm/

Garden Advice

Harvesting & Curing Winter Squash & Pumpkins

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How do you tell they’re ripe?

If you’ve never done it before determining if winter squash is ripe can be a bit more difficult than picking tomatoes or green beans. It’s also very important that it is ripe if you want it to store well through the winter.

The biggest indicator that winter squash and pumpkins are ready to be harvested is their stems. The stems should be hard and dry. Often you can tell that the plant is beginning to die. The fruits should also be their mature color and sound hollow when patted with an open hand.

Harvest

When they’re ready it’s time to harvest! Simply cut the fruit from the plant, leaving about 1 inch of stem with a knife or garden shears. Lightly wipe off large clumps of dirt with your hand.

Never carry your squash or pumpkin by their stem as breaking them off often drastically reduces their storage ability. Also try to avoid handling them roughly to reduce bruising and nicks.

If a hard frost is imminent you should go ahead and harvest any squash left on the vine even if it’s not perfectly ready. Hard frosts can damage squash and make them rot. Just keep in mind that squash harvested early may not keep quite as long so it should be used first. Leaving a longer stem can help them finish maturing properly.

Curing

Before you can store your winter squash it needs to be cured for about 7-10 days depending upon the variety. The best way to cure squash is to lay it out on a dry surface with enough space for air to move around it. Every day or so your squash should be moved or turned over to a new position.

A picnic table in your yard will work if the weather’s still warm enough, a pallet in your hoop house, your kitchen table, or even sunny windowsill.

The curing process allows the skin to toughen up so that your squash will be ready for storage.

Storage

Winter squash is one of the lovely foods that takes little effort to store at home. Ideally you should find a dry place to store your squash where the temperature stays between 50°F and 68°F degrees.

You might find a place in a spare bedroom, office, under a bed, or in a coat closet. You should store your squash in a single layer and not touching. That way if one begins to rot it won’t effect the others.

While your squash is in storage you should be careful to check it at least once a week for soft spots or mold. Use any squash that are starting to go bad immediately.

Garden Advice

Easy Season Extension For Fall

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Red Acre Cabbage

While many people would love to grow food year round, building a greenhouse isn’t always an option. Just because you lack the time, space, or money for a new greenhouse doesn’t mean you can’t extend your gardening season into the fall and winter. Here’s some easy ways to create the fall garden of your dreams without breaking the bank.

Cold Frames

These simple mini-greenhouses have been used for centuries often to harden off seedlings in the spring. Traditionally they were often placed along the southern wall of a heated green house but they can be used in south facing spot in your garden. They’re an excellent way grow root crops and leafy greens through the winter.

You’ll find many plans for cold frames available online or you can make one yourself. Many people build the walls out of wood, stacked blocks, or even just old straw bales and use old windows or sliding glass doors as the top.

Hotbeds

Hotbeds are basically cold frames with the addition of fermenting manure. To create one you dig out the inside of a cold frame and place a thick layer of fresh manure in before covering it back with soil. The manure fermenting beneath the soil will actually heat the cold frame. The layer of soil is important. Don’t plant directly into manure.

Mulch

Mulch helps your garden in a number of ways but when you’re looking to keep your garden growing in the fall mulch is an excellent way to insulate the soil and keep it warmer longer.

Select Cold Hardy Varieties

Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale

Even among the same crop different varieties handle cold weather better. Let’s use kale as an example. Though kale is generally known as a cold hardy spring/fall crop Red Russian Kale is only slightly cold hardy while Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale can be harvested under a foot of snow.

If you want to make the most of your fall garden carefully research varieties and select those most able to handle cold temperatures.

Use Low Tunnels

Essentially just small hoop houses, low tunnels have the advantage of being easily movable, vent-able, and very affordable. You can use anything from PVC pipes to saplings to create hoops over your garden beds and then cover them with row cover or clear plastic.

Use Micro-Climates

It may sound odd but many gardeners actually have a number of different micro-climates available in their own backyard. For fall gardening you’ll want to look for places that get the most sun and hold heat well. A southern facing wall will protect plants from wind and help hold heat. Large rocks will also absorb heat during the day keeping nearby plants warmer as they cool through the night.

Set Up a DIY Hoop House

If your up for a larger project there are a couple affordable DIY hoop house options that require very little construction knowledge to set up. Check out our article, Easy, Affordable Hoop House Options for more detail.

Notes

  • With any option where you’re limiting air flow like a cold frame or hoop house you’ll want to monitor the temperature closely especially on sunny days. You will need to open or vent your your season extender as needed.
  • For more ideas we highly recommend Eliot Coleman’s Four Season Harvest.

No matter where you live you can have a fall and even winter garden without spending tons of time or money. A few simple projects can keep you in fresh, homegrown food year round!

Saving the Past for the Future